Incandescence
by My Sharpie Is Green
Summary: Potter had never realized it, but he was the reason she had begun to sit by Severus Snape in the first place. But she didn’t sit with Severus anymore. SSxLE


I don't own HP, I'm not making profit off of this, so don't sue me. Takes place beginning of their 6th year.

**.x. Incandescence .x.**

Lily Evans despised Potions – no, not Potions. Lily Evans despised Professor Horace Slughorn. Not just the way he seemed to be, as Potter had so tactfully phrased it, "in love with" her, but also his pompous manner. The way that he sat on that emerald velvet ottoman popping sweaty fistfuls of Honeydukes's finest crystallized pineapple into his gargantuan mouth while they labored tirelessly over their pewter cauldrons. The way that he gloated over his favorite students like prized possessions, the masterpieces of some inanimate and unfeeling collection, while ignoring others despite the improvement of promise they showed.

Lily Evans despised the way that Slughorn would rush past Severus Snape to reach her more than she had ever hated sitting next to Severus Snape in the first place.

**.xx.**

Severus Snape loved Potions and hated Potions all at once. Mostly he hated it. Not because of course content – quite the contrary. Severus Snape liked nothing better than to mix ingredients meticulously in his standard size twelve pewter cauldron, his calculating mind making careful revisions to Libatius Borge's text, contained in his mother's old book. It was Professor Horace Slughorn that he truly hated. Each and every day, he and that damned Mudblood Lily Evans would work together and each and every day he allowed her to use the changes to procedure he had created himself, and not once had Slughorn ever shown any sign of recognizing Snape's perfection while peering into the depths of his cauldron at the end of classes. He preferred to fawn over perfect Lily Evans, despite her house and heritage, and although Evans would flash him a look of sympathy, it was never quite the same.

Not that Severus could really blame Slughorn for liking her. He would never admit it, but Lily Evans was Severus Snape's favorite part of class.

**.xx.**

As much as Lily hated Slughorn, she hated Potter and his cronies more. Of course, she thought that Peter was all right and she genuinely liked Remus; it was only Black, really, who rubbed her the wrong way (and she did mean 'rubbed' quite literally, the git). Potter and Black. The twin banes of her Hogwarts existence. They were the second and third reasons she hated Potions, respectively. She couldn't stand they way they would join her table if she was sitting with her friend. They would bombard her with inquiries about what she was doing (and various other topics), irrevocably distracting her. Potter in particular had caused her to start over on an assignment on more than one occasion.

Potter had never realized it, but he was the reason she had begun to sit by Severus Snape in the first place. But she didn't sit with Severus anymore.

**.xx.**

Severus Snape felt his skin crawl at the sound of James Potter's guffawing voice. He had hated Potter since their first meeting six years ago, when Potter had so considerately dismissed him as a "greasy slimeball"; Potter had hated Severus since he had returned the favor with a well-aimed Bat Boogey Hex, a feat that Potter couldn't quite top. Potter had improved immensely since then, of course, and was still enacting his revenge for the single spell. However, Severus had never derived the same amount of joy or pleasure from the malicious duels as Potter had.

Potter hunted Severus for sport. Severus hunted Potter for that damned Lily Evans.

**.xx.**

Lily Evans couldn't bear the silence. She hated not sitting in last year's old seat, hated not writing in the margins of his textbooks with him, hated not hearing his ideas on how to improve upon a potion. She hated the absence of his voice. She sat with Potter now, as much as she wished she didn't. He was talking to her now, and Slughorn smiled at her, wondering when she would begin, and all the other boys seemed to bore holes in her with their eyes as well, but Severus bloody Snape wouldn't even look in her general direction.

Pulling out her ingredients, Lily began to respond to what Potter had said. For the first time, Lily Evans called Potter by his name.

**.xx.**

Severus Snape couldn't have been less interested in Lily Evans. It was a welcome change not to have the Mudblood nagging at him all lesson. He did not care that she had not spoken to him since term had commenced and he pretended not to notice when she looked back at him, trying to apologize when she'd done nothing wrong. He hated that about her – she was always apologizing for his faults, as if she was embarrassed of him (or for him) when they hardly ever spoke. He didn't concern himself with the fact that she was sitting with that damned Potter boy anymore than he concerned himself with the fact that she was smiling at him.

It would have been a beautiful façade, if only it he had fallen for it, too.

**Please read and review. This was supposed to imply SS/LE, but you can take it as you will – one-sided on Snape's part or a semi-involved relationship or even full-blown love. Just don't be one of the 97.7 percent of people who don't review (seriously, I did the stats….makes me sad, haha).**


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